thanks for watching. i'll be back 4:00 p.m. eastern. much more coverage from the middle east. we're live here in jerusalem. "newsroom international" starts with suzanne malveaux right now. welcome to "newsroom international." i'm suzanne malveaux. we're taking you around the world in 60 minutes. >> i'm michael homes sitting in as well. welcoming our viewers around the globe for more of our special coverage of the crisis in gaza. >> good to see you. glad you could join us, michael. here's what's going on right now. at least 11 more palestinians killed today across gaza. that is according to the official hamas tv channel. it's unclear if anyone died in the apparent israeli air strike that you see in gaza city, but the casualty count now stands at 142 palestinians dead, 1,180 wounded. >> the number of dead and wounded also rising in israel.

hospital officials now say 24 people were wounded in this morning's bus bombing in tel aviv. no one was killed, though, but since the conflict with hamas began, five israelis have been killed. more than 70 wounded. witnesses say they saw a man throw the bag into the bus, and run away, and it blew up. official from both sides at this time yesterday, they actually believe that a cease-fire between israel and hamas was close, but diplomats today, they are furiously trying to get peace talks back on track, but there is still a lot of shock. there's action newsing other the streets of tel aviv. want to go there live to talk to sarah seidner. give us the latest of this bus bomb that went off, and what is the reaction, the response to people there about the possibility of this violence ending. >> well, you know, if you talk to people on the streets who have actually come up to us as we were in the hospital coming out on to the streets right

outside the hospital where at least 22 people have been treated after this bomb blast, some of those people on the bus and some of those people outside of the bus are saying that they just can't take any more. they're sick and tired of these sorts of attacks on the population. now, we do know from the e.r. doctor who we spoke to today that there were 22 patients, people affected by this. everything from panic attacks to the most severe injuries which were on a couple of teenagers. one of whom may lose an arm because the blast was so severe and took so much of the soft tissue of one of the arms that they are trying to save that teenager's arm right now. the other with a lot of shrapnel wounds to the face. they're trying to pick that out, but the doctors saying that both could be dealing with debilitating injuries that will affect them in their lives. we also know that the police have been looking for a suspect throughout the day. this happened around noon. we saw the bus ourselves. the windows were blown out, but

it did not completely destroy the bus. in fact, the bus was driven away from the scene instead of towed away from the scene, but a lot of injuries, a lot of people very scared. seeing this happen, it hasn't happened here in such a long time, suzanne, and a lot of people worried that this is the beginning of something worse, though we have found out now that they have lowered the alert level. the alert level was just next to the highest level that there is, and so police still looking around saying that they're still looking for suspects, but lowering of the alert level says something. >> sarah, is it any clearer right now who is actually responsible for this bombing here? there's been a lot of talk about at least hamas tweeting out that they thought it a blessing and perhaps revenge for the killing of a palestinian family. do we know who is responsible? >> no. the police say that there has been no claim of responsibility. there have been different militant groups that praise the attack, but no one coming forward for sure, and officially saying, yes, we take responsibility for this bombing.

in the streets the people are sick of it. they don't want to be going through this again. clearly people were optimistic. they thought they were on some sort of verge of at least a cease-fire, calming down, if you will. are people more emboldened now? do they feel like they don't want the cease-fire? we just want to finish off the other side, or they feel more motivated to say, look, everybody just stop, just halt, you know. we're going to try to live peacefully together. >> i don't stand so to speak, but it's a did you evering opinion depending who you talk to. one of the people that came, a volunteer that helped rescue some of the people said that,

yes, finish this off. others are saying we don't want any more conflict. we just want to figure out a way for this to end permanently all this talk of cease-fire. they want a permanent solution to all this, so that neither population, a population here in israel and the population in gaza has to deal with this anymore, so you really have two strong opinions depending on who you ask about what to do next and what they really want to see happen. >> sira, thank you very much. michael, what do you make of that? i mean, people are out there. i mean, they thought they were so close. you and i were talking about this just at this time yesterday that they were on the verge, and we were hours away from a cease-fire, and now you don't even have a moment. you don't even have a moment where the violence doesn't end. >> in fact, it's not -- in some ways it's not spreezing. when you do have a cease-fire coming militarily it's almost a normal tactic to get inasmuch as you can before that cease-fire

hits, and we saw it was 120, i think, since last night missile and rocket attacks in gaza by the israelis since, you know, there was this talk. since you and i were talking yesterday, i think it's nearly 200. the same coming out of gaza too. multiple dozens of rockets coming out of gaza too, and then this bombing today. it's going to be going intg to see who actually carried this out. it will come out in the fullness of time, but it doesn't seem that it was hamas by the sonned of the wording of this tweet. it was more likely somebody from a group in the west bank. >> you and i were also talking too that israel has stopped its ground invasion, but if you see more of these kinds of explosions, more of these bus attacks or even more casualties from these kinds of attacks, that that ground invasion is probably very likely to happen. >> what we saw in tel aviv is not what you would call a game changer in terms of where things stand now because nobody died. there's only one or two serious injuries. arrests were fairly moderate. if you saw a mass casualty situation or more of these sorts of attacks, then you're talking

game changer, and i doubt the parties in these peace talks or truce talks want to see that either, and it brings us to our next point. the secretary of state hillary clinton shuttling back and forth ruse the region. a furious effort really to try to help find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, be one of the players at least in the talks. right now she's in cairo and meeting with the egyptian president mohammed morsi who has emerged as a key player in the effort to try to end the fighting between israel and hamas. but mr. morsi walking a very tight political and social, for that matter, tight rope. reza sayah joining us from cairo. reza, morsi playing a pivot on the role, as egypt has in the past, in these talks. balancing the expectations of his street, the people that elected him and the muslim brotherhood, as well as the u.s. and the international community and all that is bound into that. >> yeah. michael, in many ways as we speak today egyptian president

mohammed morsi is viewed as maybe the most important voice for the palestinians on the world stage, and to understand the type of pressure he is under it's so important to understand how arabs, how egyptians view this conflict between the palestinians and the israelis because it is very different from the western view. egyptians, arabs, look at the latest round of fighting, and they see more than 130 palestinians killed compared to five israelis killed. they should taking on fighters that are smuggling weapons in, and they see israel as an illegal occupying force for more than 40 years. they see this as an unjust, as a lopsided conflict, and they want president morsi to do something about it. at the same time mr. morsi has made it clear that he doesn't want to disrupt his alliances with washington and western powers. he relies on these governments

for political credibility, for economic recovery. secretary clinton meeting earlier with the palestinian authority president, mahmoud abbas, who a lot of people think is irrelevant in these discussions. also benjamin netanyahu. it really stands out in her various talks who she has not talked to, and that is one of the actual combatants, hamas. how does that play into all this? >> can you take this to the bank, michael. washington is not going to interact with hamas. washington views hamas as a terrorist group. any attempt to interact with hamas will infuriate israel and will undermine that critical relationship for washington, and that's where egypt can play a key role. of course, egypt has strong ties with hamas. hamas was born out of the muslim

brotherhood, and many say that's why if these two governments can band together, cairo and washington, they can both play the role of peace makers. so far it hasn't happened, but certainly diplomatic efforts continuing at this hour, michael. >> there are many people thinking that the obama administration in the first at least kept this whole issue at arm's length, but certainly getting involved no. reza sayah in cairo, we'll get back to you. >> they make this their job so get -- humanitarian group offices was just hit. we're going to tell you what it means for the people struggling to survive in the middle of this crisis. er ] this december, remember -- ♪ you can stay in and like something... ♪ [ car alarm deactivates ] ♪ ...or you can get out there with your family and actually like something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year.

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so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke. both sides are paying a high price for this conflict between hamas and israel. lives are being lost. homes are being destroyed. families are being forced to move to safety. many times aid agencies, they are their only source of help. but even groups like k.a.r.e. have been affected by the battle. take a look at this. their international offices in gaza were seriously damaged in an israeli air strike on a

nearby police station. now, the office was empty at the time, and she is k.a.r.e.'s policy and advocacy -- anna, first of all, explain to us, tell us how people in your organization are managing during this very difficult time. >> good evening, suzanne. well, from the very beginning of the latest escalation, our staff have been hybernated, which means they are at home and they are not leaving our security advisor is not to leave their office -- not to leave their homes and not to work from the offices. because of the risks of traveling in the gaza trip. >> the people who need your help, the people who need the food, the aid from your organization, what are they doing? >> regrettably, i believe that most of the citizens of the gaza strip are doing exactly the same

thing saying put in their houses. i think that you don't have a sophisticated overview, but a lot of civilian casualties -- home how their families, much like our staff members. they're no different from other citizens. >> anna, describe for us what you actually do, what your group does because during the last war between israel and hamas, there were more than 1,000 palestinians that were killed, and a lot of people worry that this could be a humanitarian crisis on both sides. >> before the outbreak, the latest escalation of violence in gaza, we have been working on distribute i

distributing we have also been providing support to children taum triesed by the ongoing conflict we have also been -- damaged in this latest. >> there are pictures of these children. when you are there, describe for us what are these kids going through? what are they feeling? what are they telling you when they realize that they have rockets and bomb that is are going off around them? >> we have had conflicts with our staff in gaza, and they have

all quite large families, and they've had continued fear and continued stress from -- beginning with disturb approximating sound effects, i should say, and ending with being unable to move out of their houses for days and days in a row, and suffering from a constant feeling of insecurity. >> the gaza strip announces strikes, and so often these strikes come unexpected, and that adds to the trauma, but as i said, quite -- gazans are quite family-or yebted, and i believe that most of them are now with their extended families, and the children are trying to provide conflicts to

each other. >> anna, please be safe, be careful. we certainly wish the best for those children and for all of those families caught up in this crisis. >> imagine leaflets falling from the sky, thousands of them, warning you that your neighborhood is about to be attacked, and you live in one of the most densely populated places on either. well, that's the reality for people living in gaza. thousands and thousands of them. we're going to take a look at the refugee crisis that's now erupting out of this conflict. when we come back. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service.

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there is news that we are expecting an announcement from the secretary of state hillary clinton. we're just hearing this now. palestinian sources. it means a cessation of fire. we'll get more information,

hopefully, in the minutes ahead. meanwhile, 24 hours ago, all the signs were pointing to a possible cease-fire in the fighting between israel and hamas. hamas was even using the word truce, but since then we had that bomb, of course, exploding on a bus in tel aviv, and israel pounding more buildings, bridges, tunnels, key roads as well in gaza. senior international correspondent ben wiederman joining us from gaza. he has more on the latest violence as well as a look at the road ahead for ham whereas. let's start with the latest violence. the night that was more than 100 air strikes there in gaza, and. >> we did see large air strikes around here. there was also an air strike where a lot of the -- rather, the hotels are where a lot of the journalists are saying. the death toll so far today

against among palestinians is almost 20 at this point, so it's quite a contrast from the optimism that was beginning to bubble up here in gaza yesterday evening, that we were on the verge of a cease-fire compared to what came in the hours afterwards. now, we are hearing -- everybody is hearing these rumors, these reports, these claims elts not clear if it will be two sides or one side unilaterally. obviously it's a very delicate set of negotiations. secretary clinton has been in ramallah and jerusalem as well as in cairo now, so we are expecting some sort of announcement to come out of cairo this evening, but.

>> in terms of the level of damage done to unfrom a structure or hamas. those are a being taken out will need to be replaced. >> in terms of the infrastructure the damage is dramatic. not as dramatic compared with what we saw last year when the fighting was over here in gaza. the place really was just sort of a lot of smoking ruins when it was all over. as far as the leadership of hamas goes, certainly you've seen, for instance, the man white house death began this whole round of fighting, the head of the military wing of the hamas movement killed.

we've seen several of his deputies as well, and one of the concerns after a war like this or a fight like this is that there's going to be a security vacuum, and it's important to keep in mind there are other groups here in gaza. there is islamic jihad. there are jihadis who are not necessarily favorably disposed to hamas, and i was speaking yesterday with a gazan who really knows this place well, knows the factions and the groups, and he said keep your eye out for what happens. hamas in a sense has fallen into a power vacuum. they don't have this sort of grip on the place compared to before the fighting began, and hamas actually i must stress that hamas, for instance, was able to function prior to its takeover in gaza in june 2007 through its own channels, which still exists. they're still out there.

they were very good at re-establishing their authority after the last round of fighting, but they've taken quite a hit this time, and it may be a challenge to prove that they run this place. >> ben -- >> -- when the fighting stops. >> i hate to interrupt you. there's a news conference to get underway. we see there hillary clinton about to speak. let's listen in. >> the prosecutes of the arab of egypt, and the egyptian responsibility for the palestinian cause and in the interest in keeping with the peace and security in the region. egypt have made intensive efforts and made intensive contacts since the beginning of the crisis in gaza with the leadership and the palestinian factions and with the israeli side and to the international

community and in reaching and understanding to hold fire and bringing back the calm and the bloodshed that had been witnessed in the last few days, and the cease-fire will start at 9:00 p.m. cairo time today, wince, november 21st, 2012, and egypt assures that its responsibility towards the palestinian cause and for finding a just solution for it, and, therefore, egypt will continue its effort to reach this noble goal through continuation to bring in the palestinian unity and end the division of the palestinian

factions and the unification for the palestinian people in the interest of its principles, and egypt thanks the arab league and its efforts and thanks the efforts of turkey and qatar and to degree grae on all efforts agreed upon, and the statement will be distributed to everybody -- the agreement will be distributed to the press.

[ inaudible ] >> a cease-fire at 9:00 p.m. time today, wednesday, 21st of november, 2012. to achieve comprehensive

solution. the system to achieving palestinian -- on the basis of palestinian values and interests. the efforts of the -- egypt to end the violence. at the same time it is upon the international community to be engaged in monitoring the -- >> all right. you're listening there to mohammed, the foreign minister, the egyptian foreign minister there, making what we had expected to come up, and that is a cease-fire announcement 9:00 p.m. cairo time. that is, as we were discussing, about 90 minutes. >> 90 minutes away.

they say they'll be releasing some statements as well. let's listen in to secretary of state hillary clinton now who is speaking. >> personal leadership. the escalation of the situation in gaza. >> this is a critical moment for the region. egypt's new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace. >> united states --

>> the people of this region deserve the chance to -- >> now we have to focus. >> obviously we've got arabic translation of what hillary clinton is saying there, and

every time she speaks, we're getting that. she did thank the egyptian president for his mediation efforts in what we've seen so far. of course, the main news here, the headline here, is that the cease-fire will take effect at 9:00 p.m. cairo time. suzanne, that's a little under 90 minutes from now. >> one of the things that struck me was the fact this she said that it was going to be egypt and its leadership that was going to be taking the main role in brokering this peace effort, this truce, if you will. give us a sense, michael, because you and i were talking about this. this is very different than a deal or a truce. this is simply a cease-fire. this is something we heard 24 hours ago, the possibility of just the violence stopping, and one of the things that we noticed here is that the violence did not stop, and if hamas agrees and says, okay, no more rockets, no more attacks, we still have organizations like the ones we saw before with this bomb, this bus bomb. people don't have control over these other groups that might actually disrupt the cease-fire.

>> yeah. >> even if these two sides agree. >> the difference here is this is a more formal announcement that there is going to be a cease-fire, and it's going to take effect. whether it lasts or not is the other thing, and it also, as you say, is not an agreement. it's not an agreement yet that's going to be a pause in fighting while they hopefully work out the conditions under which there could be a more lasting truce. a long-lasting one, which is what israel wants, and that's what the united states wants as well. the thing that you make a very good point, though. one of the problems hamas has got in gaza, even if it wants to go and control all these groups, they're not the only group there. you've got islamic jihad, and you have freelancers that have come in through the unstable sinai area who have come into gaza through those tunnel sdpz who are doing their own miss chief. whether hamas has the ability to clamp down on everyone and stop every rocket, it's going to be interesting to see given the security vacuum ben was talking about before. >> i want to bring in our own wolf blitzer who has talked with israeli president and to give us

a sense of how confident he is that this is going to be something that is going to be achievable. what is he making of this deal with hamas? >>. >> i spoke with shimon peres before the agreement and the secretary of state hillary clinton. he was hopeful -- he wasn't confident, 100%, this it was going to be achieved. he did say that no one really wants israel to go in on the ground. the israelis don't want to do that. the palestinians certainly in gaza don't want to do that. he was very, very complimentary to the egyptian role in this, and he praise the the egyptian president mohammed morsi for stepping up and taking the responsibility, doing the responsible thing in speaking and dealing with hamas and getting close to an agreement. there's been -- as far as can i tell so far, no official statement yet from the israelis government confirming all of this, but it's been widely occupied that despite that bus

bombing earlier in the day in tel aviv, it looks like this deal has been put forward. there's no doubt that the secretary of state, she's announce it together with the egyptian government, the government of president mohammed morsi. they wouldn't be announcing it until prime minister netanyahu had signed off on this. we're also told that president obama spoke with prime minister netanyahu. now the proof will be in the pudding. we're going to see if this is going to hold. if the israelis stop their attacks on various targets in gaza and if the hamas forces and others inside gaza stop launching rockets and missiles at various in sites in israel. now we have to watch closely to see what happens. if it works it's only going to be the start of a peace process that will get palestinian, israeli negotiations on the grouped. >> i want to get the statement from the president's office here

from the read-out, the phone call to the prime minister, netanyahu. this one graphic struck me here, to get your sense of what this means. he said that the president, president obama, said the united states will use the opportunity offered by a cease-fire to intensify efforts to help israel address its security needs, especially the issue of the smuggling of weapons and explosives into gaza. what do you make of that? what kind of aid are we talking about, the security situation on the ground that the israelis are speaking of? >> the five rocket missile that is have reached out outskirts of televeef and reached the outskirts 6 jerusalem, those are a raid yabt supply to get in components and then they're put together, they're assembled in gaza. the israelis want to see that stopped, and in the statement

that we just see now from president obama in his phone conversation with the israeli prime minister, he is offering what israel was seeking, some assurances, that it's not just going to be talk. there's going to be concrete action to make israel more secure in the south, and that's what the israelis wanted from the u.s., and certainly the egyptians were seeking for assurances from the u.s. as well. the u.s. has been deeply involved in extending these kinds of assurances to both the israelis and the egyptians to get this process going. as you know, the u.s. doesn't deal directly with hamas. the u.s. has allowed egypt, as obviously encouraged the egyptians, to do so, and now there is this deal, so let's tea see if it works. >> one of the other things, wolf, that the statements is that the president, president obama, was committed to seeking additional funding for the iron dome, and other u.s.-israeli missile defense programs. i'm sunling that that is something that the u.s. as well as the israelis certainly were

talking about to actually bolster that defense system. >> it's worked rather well so far, that iron dome. it's israeli developed, but it's funded, in part, in large part, by the united states to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars so far. as part of this package deal, it looks like the u.s. is making a further commitment. the president of the united states to the prime minister of israel. that funding will continue, and the israelis have been pretty grateful about it. when i spoke to the israeli president shimon peres this morning, suzanne, he said that there would be a lot more israeli deaths, a lot more israeli injuries if it wasn't for this iron dome system that the u.s. has helped israel with in terms of funding and some technology development, and he was grateful to the united states. he was very profusive in his praise of president obama, and when i said to simon peres that it was only a few weeks ago that mitt romney, the republican nominee, was accusing president

obama of throwing israel under the bus, simon peres, the president of israel, had no part in that, had no time for that. he said israel has not been thrown under the bus, and he said that the extent of the u.s.-israeli military to military and intelligence cooperation, he said, is basically unprecedented, and he referred specifically to that iron dome system that has been so important in saving lives here in israel. >> wolf, thanks. i want to bring in christian amanpour. we'll bring you back into the discussion. christian, obviously your thoughts on this announcement, this cease-fire, and it is just the beginning, of course. there is a lot more work, obviously, to be done, but something wolf mentioned there. i'm curious your take on it. the potential here as these talks go on to fold it in with the palestinian authority, to fold it in to something much broader and bigger when it comes

to the peace process. >> that's everybody's thought. the fact is that nobody talks officially to hamas except for the egyptians. make no mistake about it. this has been a totally egypt-led process. you saw in the presidential statement from president obama that he i spoke to the head of hamas today, and he told me that they were almost there yesterday, but that it just wasn't fully signed on to by the israelis. you have seen all the shuttle diplomacy between hillary clinton and ban ki moon and everybody back and forth from jerusalem to here. look, the p.a. is the legitimate palestinian group which israel and the u.s. talks to. however, they have left the p.a., basically, up a tree with no support.

here you have the situation where nobody apparently talks to hamas, and, yet, everybody is talking to hamas because those are the people who had he they needed to negotiate with. particularly, of course, egypt's role. with we started this more than a would being ago -- would president morsi be willing and able to do this kind of heavy lifting, and it seems that he has done, and you were talking about guaranteeing this cease-fire. that's something that israel really wanted to have a partnership around the cease-fire, to go into it not alone with hamas, but to go into it with guarantors. egypt will be and turkey and qatar and other regional players as well. >> this is suzanne. do you know what hamas has gotten out of this? what sense do they feel they are walking away from the table, what have they achieved here?

>> well, spoik to him just before this was announced. however, what they want to achieve is a lifting of the siege. i don't think i heard anything about that this evening. that is going to be something that we'll see whether that comes along. you heard in some of hillary clinton's original statements when she was in jerusalem last night she talked about needing a secure israel and supporting the right of israel to be secure and defend itself, but also needing a process that meets the needs of the palestinian people in gaza. one of the problems is they have been besieged. obviously, there is smuggling and there is tunnels and also stuff happening. in general they feel like they're under a blockade. that's one of the things, and, again, hamas, you know, whether anybody wins or loses remains to be seen. to me it looks like a little bit like status quo ante at the moment, but just by standing to fight another day hamas has

gained, but even more than that, we've been talking about all these people who have been coming to gaza to stand shoulder to shoulder with hamas, the ejust a minutian prime minister, the amir of qatar, the prime minister, foreign minister of qatar, the prime minister and foreign minister of tunisia, and the whole arab league delegation just this week, so this is a far cry from isolating hamas, which the u.s. and israel have also wanted and, frankly, which mubarak used to help do. now it's a very different kettle of fish. >> this is after arab spring, and now we have hamas that's emboldened and really a test for secretary of capitol hill state clinton to see what they're going to do with these new players here, with the role of ejust a minute as well as hamas. the political stakes have been highly pole lished by this. they're going to be looking pretty good, if think can get

something out of it in the end. hopefully the rockets will stop. the missiles will stop and people will stop dying, but then comes the hard work, which is who gets what. we're going to take a break. when we come back, we'll talk to ben about that and plenty more. they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ (child screaming underwater)...

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the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. senior international correspondent ben joining us live from gaza as we deal with this cease-fire announcement. it's not necessarily a deal. it's a deal to stop -- your thoughts on -- you know, both sides want to come out of this looking like they've won something. what's at stake here? one imagines that the big deal for hamas is going to be the blockade, the economic blockade of gaza, and for israelis, the

tunnels. >> for hamas that has been their demand going back several years is that they want an immediate total lifting of the israeli blockade. now, at the moment they have no access whatsoever to israel. it's hermedically sealed. there's no way for a ship to come and dock in the gaza sport, to the extent that it even exists, and at the moment all entry and exit from gaza is through egypt. what's significant is that egypt really does hold the keys to gaza. if the ejust a minutians decide to crack down on the tunnels and restrict the movement of a hamas official in and out of gaza, they really can put a lot of pressure on them. now, we've seen that since the overthrow of hosni mubarak in february of last year, the government in cairo,

particularly the one led by mohammed morsi of the muslim brotherhood, has been fairly sympathetic to hamas here many gaza, and now hamas is enjoying certainly an amount of political freedom, an amount of political sort of opening that it never had before. as christian mentioned, all these arab delegations that have come have really given them a lot of strength, a lot of backing compared certainly to the palestinian authority in the west bank that does seem to be on the sidelines. hamas definitely comes out of it much stronger politically. militarily it's a whole different matter. obviously, there's been a lot of destruction, a lot of death, a lot of displacement, but certainly hamas can say that we put up a fight against israel and emerged stronger than we were before. at least politically. michael. >> what do you make as an observer of the region, long-time resident of the region, of the level of aifsh

support post arab spring, of course, looking through that prism. the arab world has long been criticized for talking about the palestinian polite, not doing much about it, and we've seen a procession of ash officials saying this is unfolding. >> it's important to underscore that there's widespread support not necessarily for hamas as an organization, but for the palestinian people, and i think that's really what rights people up in places like cairo, in amman, and elsewhere is to see that gaza has been pummelled by the israeli air force. hamas isn't necessarily that popular, a, here in gaza, and also elsewhere. people look beyond the politics and have a natural sort of solidarity with the people of gaza, and certainly that -- the difference is that before, for

instance, in cairo when there were flare-ups in the arab -- palestinian-israeli conflict in the past. there would be very small demonstrations in support or solidarity with the palestinians where the ejust a minutian security outnumbered the protesters perhaps 15 or 20 to one. now egyptians can go out into square, other parts of egypt, and demonstrate by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, and, therefore, i think you are now seeing a level of popular support being expressed openly and strongly and freely for the palestinians -- the palestinians, not necessarily hamas, than you ever saw before prior to the arab spring. michael. >> and, yes, in a much more tangible way. ben, great to get your thoughts. stay around. we'll discuss more. we're going to take a quick break. then we're going to speak with a former u.s. envoy, especially envoy, to the middle east, george mitchell. what starts with adding a friend...

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coming up in about an hour or so a cease-fire that was brokered by the egyptians between hamas and israel is expected to take effect. the statements will be officially passed around to all sides. want to bring in george mitchell, former u.s. special envoy to the middle east on the phone from new york for a couple of things. first of all, your initial reaction in terms of how serious you think the cease-fire agreement is, whether you have faith that this is going to last at least for the short-term. i think that the ejust a minutian government has invested a lot of effort and prestige in this, so i think they will be trying very hard to make certain that this cease-fire does hold, at least for a sufficient period of time so that the parties can discuss the broader issues. they both obviously have demands

and policy that is they want to be followed. they're in some disagreement, and hopefully there will be some discuss of that. >> you have been heart of these talks, these negotiations for a number of years. we get a statement saying that the president was committed to seeking additional funding for the iron dome and other israeli missile defense programs. what do you think secretary clinton offered the ejust a minutians to president morsi? when ejust a minute and israel agreed to what was a grew that held it sewing towing was financial support from the united states to both israel and egypt. that has continued over a long period of time with some changes. both in amounts and purposes. it's been a special part.

with egypt in this case, and i think they're willing to continue that. it helps them in dealing with relations with the united states, so there's a broad interest in egypt. remember, now they took power as a result of an election and a revolution and an election that wasn't sparked by the israeli conflict. it was park sparked by domestic considerations and egypt. this is an indigenous egyptian mooumt, and they've got to concentrate on dealing with the problems that their people face. this helps them in that regard. >> morsi, the new egyptian president here, what do you make of how he has brokered this deal? he seems like he is somebody who certainly is a player that the united states is welcoming. >> well, of course, it's not our responsibility to select the leaders of our governments, and whatever our views, he has been

chose by an the people of egypt in a free and fair election, so we, in accordance with our own principles and the right of self-gornance deal with that. i have to say he has clearly recognized egypt's national interests here and hopefully if this can succeed and take hold. remember, this is not the first time this has happened. egyptians have been deeply involved in this for a very long period of time. i think it will only go down to his benefit both dmesly and in the world. his success or failure will rest upon how well the people of egypt feel their interests have been met in terms of the need for jobs, for education. the same thing that people want everywhere in the world. >> mr. mitchell, michael holmes jumping in here. you're a man who has looked big picture at this whole region, this whole issue for years now. i am curious, one of the big problems that faces the whole palestinian question is the scism between fatah and palestinian authority and hamas. i wonder if there's a potential

out of all of this for some sort of reproachment between the two because that's what's needed to move any kind of negotiation forward. hamas is not going to be able to deliver peace with israel. keep in mind that skism has gone on for several years, and efforts to reconcile have gone on for several years. egyptians have been central to that effort as well. rying to bring the two sides together. there are a lot of policy and other considerations, personality differences, but at the heart of it has been that hamas has always insisted on retaining the right to use force in behalf of their policy goals while fatah under president abbas took the position that nonviolence was the path. now, one of the dangers here is that many people, palestinians and others around the middle

east region will see a vindication of hamas's policy and say you see violence pays off, but peaceful negotiation has not. that's a dangerous message to send, and that's why it's incumbent and the secretary and the president clearly recognize that. to get some process going where you have a meaningful negotiation and the possibility of bringing about the kind of resolution to this conflict that has eluded everybodying that has -- but it's so important we have to keep at it. >> you know that process very well. george mitchell, thanks so much. suzanne. >> suzanne malveaux. we have breaking news. a cease-fire between israel and hamas set to begin exactly one hour from now. the announcement came just a short time ago from egypt's foreign minister. you see secretary of state hillary clinton by his side. let's listen in. >> have resulted in reaching and understanding to have -- to hold

fire and bringing back the calm and end the bloodshed that had been witnessed in the last few days and the cease-fire will start at 9:00 p.m. cairo-time, cairo time. today -- >> this is a critical moment for the region. egypt's new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace. >> cnn correspondents in positions across the region, across the globe really. ben and arwa there in jerusalem. we have fred, sarah, anderson cooper all in israel. plus, we have christian amanpour and reza sayah in egypt. we saw less than an hour until now this agreed upon cease-fire that's scheduled take effect or so.

now, if it holds, what's it going to mean? finally maybe quiet after eight days of rocket fires, explosions, dozens of deaths, more than 1,000 people wounded. >> what's taking place? >> the cease-fire doesn't go into effect for another hour so, we just saw a few minutes ago not far from where i'm standing four rockets being fired in the direction of israel. we did see in the distance some of the bright lights which appear to be the anti-missile 34i68s that are part of the iron dome system, so they may have been intercepted, and just seconds ago i heard what sounded like the roar of another rocket to the north of here being fired as well. this may be the last whacks before the cease-fire takes

place, and it proves how fragile it is, because obviously those rockets result in casualties on the other side. both sides may -- the agreement might simply be scrapped before it goes into effect. >> let's talk about that, ben. you know, we see this official statement clearly coming from the egyptian foreign minister as well. is there a sense that this is something that is real, that is tangible that could happen? >> we had phone calls with others, but nothing concrete. now we've seen it on live

television throughout the middle east definitely this is far more official than it was last night, but there's the wild card, the wild card as we saw just moments ago with these rockets being fired within the last hour. the last hour before the implementation of this cease-fire, so i think people are not quite celebrating yet. people -- i think there are a lot of gazans, palestinians here in gaza who are breathing a sigh of relief, but as of yet, they want to see if this thing holds. as we know, there are many different militant groups in addition to islamic jihad, in addition to hamas, that may see it as a continuation of the hostilities. >> thank you, ben. still very early. too soon to know whether or not the cease-fire will take effect or even take hold.

>> ben makes that point that hamas isn't the only game in town in gaza. >> you have the bus attack in tel aviv, which at least hamas sympathizers say, you know, hamas blesz this, but we don't know really who did that. >> no, we don't. >> these are freelance groups that are aligned with hamas. >> those are probably likely from the west bank and which group we don't know. let's bring in christian amanpour there in cairo. when we talk about -- i suppose gaza and people in the towns near gaza on the israeli side, they're the big winners if this thing does stop now, but on the political side let's talk about

the winners there. hamas has come out fairly polished. hosni mubarak had to walk th that -- >> there's been sinking in israel has made an agreement. that is a first. it's incredible. this was really going to be the test of this new post-arab spring islamist muslim brotherhood political reality, of which hamas is a part. i think this is what's really interesting about this. obviously hamas is going to have egypt looking in at it, and israel wanted that. it wanted to go into some kind of partnership agreement. it didn't want to just have to rely on the good faith of hamas.

it wanted partners. it was explained to us when i was in jerusalem and the u.s. will, of course, be involved and other countries, qatar, turkey, obviously egypt always taking the lead. i think this is really very important. beyond that, it's going to be really interesting to know whether this cease-fire does anything other than take the parties back to the status quo. what will change? will it just be another extended lull for a period of time and then they go back at it again? or will there be significant steps? will hamas agree not to throw rockets into israel, which was the main demand that israel had? if you remember, unlike -- when they wanted to get rid of the hamas leadership in gaza, they never said that this time. this was not about regime change or getting rid of hamas. it was about stopping those rockets. if that happens, that will be good for israel. and for hamas, if they manage to get their leaders to be able to survive and not be able to be assassinate bid israel that,

would be good, and also if they get the blockade lifted that, will be good too. that's what they wanted. hamas, of course, has emerge as diplomatically triumphant only because it's failed to be isolated as israel, other countries have wanted in the past. >> and as we have always said, by all parties, want to walk away from this claiming victory, and we'll see if that actually occurs. christian, we'll be back with you shortly. thank so much. >> still 52 minutes before the cease-fire is expected to take hold, and we'll see. i mean, we will see how this develops throughout the afternoon, whether or not this is something that is real. we've been in this place before, and obviously, a lot of very powerful players who are behind this, but it depends on what happens on the ground. >> you know, what is next in terms of -- it's a cease-fire. b, then what? everyone wants this to be a lasting thing. then you have to sit down and have an agreement on some pretty difficult issues when you are talking about the economic blockade on gaza and you are talking about the tunnels that arm hamas from the egyptian

side. it's a lot outstanding here. >> and talks that have gone nowhere. people who have been involved in these talks after eight days of rocket attacks, air strikes, we have israel and hamas agreeing to a cease-fire. the question is whether or not this is really going to hold. we're going to hear from israeli government official up next. [ male announcer ] a european-inspired suspension, but it's not from germany. ♪ a powerful, fuel-efficient engine, but it's not from japan. ♪ it's a car like no other... from a place like nother. introducing the all-w 2013hevrolet malibu, our greatest malibu ever. ♪ when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers...

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my money. my choice. my meineke. >> between israelis and hamas. mark, israeli government spokesman, is in jerusalem with our own wolf blitzer, and, wolf, certainly feel free to jump in here, but mark, a quick question for you. what are you going to be looking for in about 45 minutes or so to know if, in fact, this cease-fire is something that is real on both sides, and the side of hamas as well? >> we'll be hoping for and the arrangements are specific. total and complete quiet. i mean, we said from day one of this crisis our goal is to bring peace and quiet to the people of southern israel who have been on the receiving ends of these rockets from hamas controlled gaza for just too long, and this arrangement which was obviously

an egyptian proposal with the american sponsoring them, and we thank both the governments of egypt and the united states for their support in this matter. we'll offer a new reality in which we'll have peace and quiet for our citizens in southern israel who have suffered so much. >> let me follow-up. let's talk a little bit about the specifics. what are you prepared to do as far as hamas's demands are concerned? are you ready to allow them to live a more normal life in gaza right now? >> the restrictions that we imposed on gaza were a result of the hostility from gaza coming into israel. i mean, if people are shooting rockets at you, it's very difficult to have a normal relationship. these arrangements say that there will be no hostile activity, no hostile fire neshated from the gaza strip against israel. full stop, it's open-ended. >> if they stop, will you stop assassinations, targeted killings of hamas leaders?

>> i have said more than once, our whole military operation was defensive. it was designed to bring peace and quiet to israel citizens in the south who were on the receiving end of those rockets. if there's no hostility from gaza, there's no reason for israel to act. >> do you have assurances that hamas is now going to completely stop not only the rockets and the missiles, but the artillery or -- israeli soldiers won't be -- >> the understanding we've reached against the egyptians with the sponsorship of the united states say clearly a total and complete cessation of all hostile activity initiated in the grauz strip, and that's very important. approximate t means that means no rockets on israeli cities, no shooting at israeli farmers from across the border. total and complete quiet. this -- these arrangements, for us that's victory, because that's what we wanted. we wanted the whole operation was designed to protect our people, to free them from their

constant fear of incoming rocket launches by hamas and gaza. what if they get engaged and target cease-fire? >> these understandings are crustal clear. no fire from gaza. so you hold hamas responsible for any hostile fire coming from gaza into israel? >> 100% correct, and that's the understandings reached with the egyptians. you can't have an attack, and people will say that's islamic jihad or that's al qaeda or something else. total and complete cessation of all hostile activity initiated from the gaza strip. hamas controls gaza. they are responsible for gaza. >> will you ease the blockade of grauz as a result of this agreement? >> the thing is, wolf, over the last few years we've had a gradual lifting of restrictions, slow and steady, incremental, but a slow and steady process of easing restrictions.

now, here you've got to put cause and effect in the right order. we only impose restrictions because of the hostility, because of the rockets, because of the violence, because of the terrorism. if the border is quiet, that enables us to be more forthcoming and arrangements agreed with egyptians say we'll start talking from tomorrow about a process to work on those issues. >> is there an agreement that the u.s. will now help egypt prevent smuggling of weapons into gaza from -- >> well, you saw what the bhous put out, and that for us is a big issue because we don't want to see hamas, and that's one of the issues that we'll be discussing in the coming days. >> do you have an assurance from egypt that they will take steps to prevent iranian supply other weapons coming into gaza? >> i think everyone understands. all the partners in these understandings understand that hamas that has missiles is a danger not just to israel, but a danger to regional stability. now, what's the problem?

we know what it is. iran will try to pump into gaza as quickly as possible stockpiles of those dangerous words, the rockets that were fired here in jerusalem, that were fired in tel aviv. they'll try to once again strengthen hamas with a military machine and replenish the stocks that they've lost because of our very effective military campaign. we are aware of this challenge, and we think all parties to this -- these understandings have to act to prevent that from happening. >> what assurances did president obama give prime minister netanyahu about u.s. assistance to israel as a result of this agreement? >> first of all, we heard from the united states all along, before this agreement. the united states supports israel's right to defend itself, and there's no justification whatsoever for these rockets from gaza on israeli civilians, and, of course, that was true yesterday. that's true for tomorrow, and we thank the americans for that position. we've also seen very tangible support from the united states because one of the reasons i think that we came out of this as strong as we did is because those hundreds of rockets launched from the gaza strip,

the most lethal ones were taken out by the iron dome anti-missile system, and that system, as you know, it's american support. first of all, it's a joint project, and i believe we're talking about moving forward with that missile defense. it's a crucial part of protecting the israeli population, and we thank the united states administration and congress for their support in this matter. >> there's hundreds of billions of u.s. dollars that have already been provided to bolster iron dome, and now numerous anti-missile systems. is there a number how much the president promised he would commit to try to seek congressional support for additional u.s. military aid for israel? >> i'm not aware of specific. i only than the president reiterated that principle, and we thank you for it. we thank the american congress for it. he we thank the american people for it. iron dome isn't just good for israel because it's not just israel that faces a threat of missiles fired by terrorists. it's a global issue, and that technology that we've developed together can serve all democracies across the planet. >> and we're going to wrap it up. you are grateful to the egyptian president, mohammed morsi, for

what he has now done? >> there's no doubt the egyptian proposal offers a future where we can have peace and quiet in the south. that's good for israelis. it's also good for gaza. weave got now egyptian sponsorship of a proposal. that's very important. in other words, these arrangements have garon tors in the region. egypt and internationally the united states, and we want to see the cease-fire last. we want to see it have longevity. we want the people of southern israel to have normal lives. >> mark, the spokesman for the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, who is getting to address the people at the bottom of the hour. obviously an historic development right now, but it's not going to be that easy making sure this is i wamplemented ful. it's complex. we'll see what the prime minister of israel has to say, but, mark, we have him giving us the first israeli reaction to this historic agreement, the cease-fire agreement in effect

an agreement between israel and hamas to stop the fighting between israel and gaza. suzanne, michael. >> thank you, wolf. we also expect to hear from hamas as well within the coming hour for their own official statement to talk a little bit about what the terms for their side, but we're going take a quick break, and then we'll assess on the other end. yeah.

2:00 p.m. eastern time in the united states. that is less than an hour from now. it's half an hour from now. that is when the cease-fire is set to begin. a cease-fire that ames to end eight straight days of hostilities between israeli forces and militants in gaza. the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is in cairo right now. she's spoke a short time ago. let's see what she had to say. >> this is a critical moment for the region. egypt's new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace. >> let's get to sarah how in tel aviv. not that long ago a bus bomb wounded two dozen people. fortunately, only i think one

seriously. sarah, tell us how -- i mean, that could have really been a game changer if it had been worse. tell us how people in tel aviv where you are, and i know you interact with them there, reacted to this announcement. >> well, look, people -- there are many people here that have differing opinions, but a general opinion is they just want to stop the rockets from coming over. they want to stop the violence from happening. they don't want to have to worry and be in their homes. they don't want to have to worry about their family members. just like anywhere in the world. i think generally people just wanted to see an end to this. then if you talk to some of the people who were involved in, for example, one of the volunteer rescuers who saw this bus explode, saw the windows being blasted out, saw the people that were injured, and talk to some of those who were injured, some of the injured were saying we want the government here to finish off the situation in gaza so that never again another

rocket is send over to israel. talking about the possibility of a ground war. it really depends on who you talk to, but generally speaking, people do want a cessation to seeing any rockets coming over into israel and, frankly, for the bombings that are going on there from air strikes in gaza. they just want to see an end to this, and to hear that there is potentially a cease-fire that is happening is good news to most people. it will give them at least a bit of time to come down off of that sense of having to be on high alert, that sense of being afraid. >> right. sarah, you know, you're our jerusalem correspondent. you look back since 2007 when hamas took over in gaza. these -- it's been an ongoing state of war really. you have these flare-ups where, there's a cease-fire. then it ends months later or whenever. there is details enshrined in it.

but it's something more substantial. >> they haven't been able to do that for the past since hamas got into power. they realize that might be a tall order. they'll settle right now just for the cessation of having rockets come over into israel and the subsequent air strikes that happen there in gaza. back in october there were rockets being sent over and a reaction from israel as well, looking at targeted strikes there in gaza. egypt then came into the middle of this. they negotiated a truce, and that held for a while, and then, again, it started all over again just the next month. people get very tired of seeing that bouncing back and forth. you have a cessation, and then suddenly there's a few rockets come over, and then you see the air strikes, and it bounces back and forth, and really people are just exhausted by all this.

they just want to see an end to it for good. michael. >> thanks so much. appreciate that, sarah. sarah there in tel aviv. suzanne. >> looks like 32 minutes until this cease-fire is supposed to take effect. if this thing holds, it's going to be finally some quiet after eight days of rocket fire and explosions where's our ben is in gaza city right now. ben, i understand that you actually are hearing reports of incoming fire. there is no sign of a cease-fire yet. zoobt at all. within the last half hour we've had three separate volleys of rockets fired out of gaza, and we've heard some incoming as well. definitely they're looking at their watches and they see hand an hour left. they were intercepted by the iron dome system. what's clear is that this may be

a message from hamas to see if it's all over, perhaps, and we still have our rockets. there are major bombardments. the game is still in play for another half hour hour. >> wolf blitzer was saying, you know what, even if it's not hamas, if it's another group, islamic jihad or folks that are actually firing rockets, bombs exploding, hamas will be responsible for all those different groups. does that sound like that is something that is possible from your vantage point when people see that area that hamas can actually control all the other folks that might get involved here and not be a part of the cease-fire? >> well, hamas -- hamas, suzanne, is definitely the biggest group here. it basically runs the government.

they do have a lot of power, manpower, resources, weaponry. we've seen in the past they have gotten into disagreements. sometimes even clashes with other groups here in gaza. what's important is to see that they are making an effort rather than leaving it at that. suzanne. >> booen, we're going to be checking in with you throughout the half hour, and, of course at the top of the hour to see whether or not the cease-fire is really something that is real, michael, because you and i have been talking about this, and we've been here before. been in this position before. >> many times. >> it has not turned into a successful story. >> yeah. needs to have that substance. needs to go further than just, like, stop firing and peck it up again six months from now. that's the key issue. hopefully that's what's going to come in the days ahead. we've got the palestinian

representative to the united states joining on the phone from washington d.c. good to talk to you. i want to get your reaction to this too. i also want to get your thoughts on the fact that through all of this, through the conflict, through the cease-fire discussions, the greats irony, the president of the palestinian authority had nothing to do with it. is that a big problem going forward for the palestinian people? >> first of all, we are pleased to hear that the efforts of egypt and other parties in the region who have been called with president abbas are succeeding, and it will be an imminent end to hostilities to the violence there. our top priority here is to provide safety and security for the palestinian civilians in the

gaza strip who have endured and suffered over the last eight days 157 dead, more than 1,000 dead. there are on the palestinian authority and president abbas was all very, very much visible. he met with the jordanian foreign minister and the secretary general of the united nations today, with the united states secretary of state, hillary clinton. although we are not on the ground in the gaza strip, we have been very active for all parties, including hamas. >> the problem has not been, has at any time, that the palestinian authority, when it comes to gaza, is irrelevant, and mahmoud abbas has really had no say in this at the moment, and that's a problem going forward in the bigger picture of palestinian unity, is it not? is this an opportunity in some ways for hamas and fatah, palestinian authority, to make up, to move forward with some sort of sense of unity? >> well, first of all, president

abbas is the elected president of the palestinian people everywhere. he has not only electriced president of palestinians in the west bank. he was elected in 2005 in free democratic elections. stoo hamas is running gaza. let's be real about that. >> what i'm trying to tell you -- nobody can deny that we have political differences with hamas. our top priority right now and it has been for the last few days is to secure the safety, the well being, to stop the bloodshed in the gaza strip, and we hope that, you know, the efforts that have been made in the last few months will continue between all the palestinian fabbings to put an end -- >> it's good to hope for that, but what is the reality that it might happen, or a chance that

it might happen. just on the surface it seems that politically at least coming out of this, home whys has gained and the palestinian authority has not. >> i wouldn't look at it this way. i have been hearing this by different commentators. hamas is willing -- i wouldn't really look at it this way. after all, the palestinians of the gaza strip, the palestinians of the west bank, the palestinians in the -- they are all one people. they all say one objective. it helps the israeli military. in the midst of this recent violence, people front of what is the root cause of this. and the blockade that has been imposed on the gaza support.

1.7 million. i'm going to ask you this. in a matter of days, over a week, the palestinian authority is going to go to the united nations and ask for nonmember observer status for palestine, is that not a joke when you are talking about state recognition on some level when you really have two countries, the west bank and gaza run by different groups and without any political unity? >> absolutely not. this is something that will be presented by the general assembly on behalf of the plo. as i explained to you earlier, the plo remains the sole representative of the palestinian people. on the contrary, it will definitely contribute to the expediting of the israeli military occupation. it will put the palestinians for the first time -- palestine will be an opened state by the member state of the united nations, which is occupying israel, and

as the president explained, we are willing to engage in negotiations immediately with iz raeldz in order to solve all bilateral issues because all these issues outstanding issues must be resolved bilaterally between israel and the -- >> certainly there is a lot of support within many countries in the united nations for that application. the u.s. and israel and others not among them, but that obviously going ahead, that application. palestinian representative to the united states, appreciate the thoughts on this day. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> in a matter of minutes, of course, that cease-fire, 25 minutes, a little less, is meant to take effect. the fighting will stop, or will it? and the agreement has broader implications. we're going to break that down when we come back. for their clients' futures.ked helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise.

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>> let's go to fred that sits at the border with gaza. it has been hit many times by rockets.

we saw you yesterday taking cover, duck ask cover, and some of those sirens going off. now you've got this reported cease-fire that's supposed to take effect in about 20 minutes, 22 minutes or so. what are you seeing from your vantage point? >> well, what we're seeing is actually a lot more air alarms going on here. again, it was actually very similar to what we had last night. we were, of course, on the air as well. the authorities here are urging people to stay either missed or close to a building, which is actually what we're doing. we have this cafe here in the back drop, and we have a building right next door. that's also, by the way, suzanne, one of the reasons why you're not seeing many people here in this cafe who are going to be watching the speech made by mention minimum netanyahu, because many are, instead, electing to stay inside simply because it's so very dangerous. we're hearing that they've been hit. there have been rocket attacks on the town as well. apparently most of those rockets were intercepted by the iron dome missile defense system, but

the people that we're talking to here, suzanne, they have sort of mixed opinions. a lot of them are not very happy with the prospects of the cease-fire. they felt that the military operation should have gone on. that their objectives were not reached, and that most likely or very possibly they'll be facing a similar situation with rockets falling on their head in a couple of months or a couple of years. it's also one individual, however that, we spoke to and said if it's quiet here, that's good. he was quite happy at the prospect and the possible cease-fire, suzanne. >> so, fred, you talk about some people. they feel like they would like to continue this. they don't want this cease-fire because they feel like we're going to be back in the same place where they were before with the rockets. how would they define success? how would they know when they've won, when they've accomplished what they set out to do? what does that mean? >> that's -- yeah, that's a very good question. certainly one where you're also going to hear mixed answers. one of the things they say -- there's literally some of the people that call this mowing the lawn. they say every time we have air strikes like this, what happens is that hamas regroups and

they'll start firing rockets again. many people here feel that there should be a ground operation into gaza, that the military should go in there and to quote these folks here, some of them here to solve all this once and for all. other people also believe that that would be too much, that the aerial campaign should go on, that hamas should be weakened in that way. it's very difficult to get an exact answer from people, because obviously they are also well aware of the fact that there have been ground operations in the past that have not brought the success that they want, but certainly what they're saying is that their bottom line is that they say benjamin netanyahu said that he would go out to solve this problem once and for all and as long as that is not done had he say they want a longer air campaign, and many of them said

quite outrate, frankly, they want an invasion into gaza by israel's armed forces. we saw the announcement coming from egyptian officials as well as secretary of state hillary clinton that cease-fire negotiated by the egyptians between hamas and israel, again, it is going to be up to what takes place on the ground to see whether or not this is even a real agreement. we're going to take a quick break and be right back. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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for more information including cost support options, when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. bringing you up-to-date on the breaking news we're following. that is, of course, the cease-fire agreement between israel and hamas set to take effect in less than 15 minutes. what you are looking at there is where we are expecting the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to come out and speak to the media, and it's going to be interesting to see what his

take is on this agreement. this is in jerusalem. let's bring in jill dougherty. jill, you were in the white house last time i saw you. you are at the white house. looks like secretary clinton ending her tenure on a bit of a positive note. depending on what her involvement in this was, but it seems that her little whistle stop tour around the region may have had an impact there. what's your take on what happened? certainly, certainly the egyptian president comes out of this shining. >> yeah. i mean, you would certainly want to see behind the scenes precisely what she did, but it was obviously very tightly coordinated with president obama, and what incentives could be offered, especially to israel. when we're talking about the iron dome and additional types of missile defense programs. i think there's an interesting tone in the statements that are coming out of the white house. in fact, pointing your attention to the white house saying that the president commended prime

minister netanyahu for agreeing to the egyptian cease-fire proposal, which the president recommended the prime minister do. it sounds like mr. boem is taking credit for that, but i think there's also another subticket which is it kind of shifts the burden. it makes the israel prime minister look as if, you know, he is still careful. he was convinced by mr. obama and he went along with this. there really is now more of a burden both on president obama's shoulders and to a certain extent on hillary clinton's shoulders for carrying that out. whether this will hold. that's what really nobody knows. >> well, the detail is everything. if you point out the nuances well behind the scenes. you know, what -- suzanne and i have been discussing this. the thing is that since 2007 this has happened time and time again. there's a shooting war. they have a cease-fire. then six months later they're back at it again. what needs to be is some substance in this, and it's been

heartening in a way to hear talk about let's discuss the economic blockade and make that part of some lasting deal. let's stop the rearming of iraq and isn't that what is required here is substance to this to make it stick? >> absolutely. in fact, listen to what hillary clinton said. you know, it's a step in the right direction. but you need a more durable solution. that, i think, is really the challenge here, which is not only to try to get a cease-fire, but you couldn't put that cease-fire into effect without some promise of what was going to happen next. now, with israel, obviously, they are insuring them -- >> jill, just to interrupt you there. jill, i'm sorry. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking. let's listen.

>>. >> top level commanders of the organization who destroyed thousands of rockets and most of the rockets aimed at the center of the country and we destroyed control facilities of hamas. i have to say that all this was done with the firm support on the part of the leaders of the international community, and i would like especially to thank president barack obama for his unreserved support for israel's actions in the operation and for israel's right to defend itself as well as his support for the iron dome systems. i would also like to thank the secretary of state hillary clinton and to express my appreciation for the efforts of egypt to attain a cease-fire. in the talk that i held this

evening with president obama i agreed that it was a good idea to give an opportunity to the cease-fire in order to enable the situation to be calmed and to enable israeli citizens to return to their day to day lives. at the same time, it is self-evident that israel cannot sit and accept as our enemies continue to arm themselves with terrorist arms. and so i have agreed with the president that israel and the united states would work together to prevent the smuggling of arms to the terror organizations, the vast majority of which comes from iran, from the day it was established, the state of israel has faced conflicts, challenges in the middle east. and in recent years, we have all seen that this complex city has increased enormously. and under these conditions, we are required to navigate the

ship of state with wisdom and responsibility, taking into account all the considerations, military, and political. that is what a responsible government does and that is what we did in this case too. we implemented military force, but also political wisdom. i know there are those who expect an even more intense military response, and that may perhaps be needed. but at this time, the right thing for the state of israel is to exhaust this opportunity, to obtain a long-term cease-fire. or an ongoing cease-fire. as the prime minister i have the supreme responsibility to take the right steps to safeguard our security. that is what i've always done and that is what i will continue to do. in the past week, people have

died in israel and on behalf of the nation, i would like to send condolences to the families and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. i would like to thank my colleagues, defense minister ehud barak and foreign minister lieberman. we worked together as a team, of one mind, and i would like to thank the members and the members of the cabinet who each worked in his own area for the sake of israel's security. i am -- i would also like to recognize the support of the opposition parties who expressed their support as well. i would like to thank the chief of staff, lieutenant colonel and the head of the musad for their excellent actions, for the

achievements of operation pillar of defense. i would like to thank the pilots, the fighters and developers of the iron dome systems, the members of the intelligence community and all the members of the security community and the reservists who left their families and immediately reported for duty. i would like to express my appreciation for the mayors who supported and worked for the sake of the home front and above all i salute you, the citizens of the state of israel. we have a strong army. we have a strong nation. i am proud to be your prime minister. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu making a statement there. michael, a couple of things that you and i noticed about that statement, one was about iran. and that he was satisfied with

president obama and some sort of agreement between the two that they would not allow iran, the smuggling of weapons from iran to hamas. >> yeah. it was interesting. the wording is -- it wasn't that he said we will not stand for more rocket fire, he said, it is self-evident that israel cannot sit and accept as our enemies arm themselves, meaning the rearming of hamas to cross the border with egypt is obviously one of the conditions that israel is going to demand. >> it was one of the things we saw from the prime minister that was a frustration when you saw before the united nations and he drew the red line and whether or not there was some difference, some daylight between president obama and benjamin netanyahu and where that red line was for iran. it looks like they're a little closer, on the same page, that seems to be what he is suggesting. >> he spoke highly of president obama, done with the firm support of the international community but then singling out u.s. president barack obama for his particular support and part

of this is there is a deal being done here. israel will expect there will not be arms smuggled in to gaza the way they had been over last couple of years, since 2008, 2009. and we have yet to hear from the hamas leader exiled in cairo, hear what his quid pro quo will be in this deal. >> i think one of the things too, this seems to be an opportunity for a couple of players here, secretary hillary clinton, getting over the whole benghazi flop, if you will, and a lot of criticism that came up over how the obama administration dealt with that. this is her last, really, significant diplomatic effort here and mission if you will and she certainly looks like she's positioned herself well if the cease-fire can hold, that they play a role that she can leave with a certain accomplishment. >> and you know what, i realized the time too, we'll know very soon whether this will hold or not. less than four minutes away from when the cease-fire is meant to

be implemented. 2:00 p.m. eastern time, 9:00 p.m. local time in the middle east. and the key is going to be what happens, not just in the hours ahead, but what is going to happen in the days and weeks ahead. because this is the beginning of hopefully a negotiation toward something more lasting. >> certainly. that's been the goal. and unsuccessful, but the goal of many previous presidents and world leaders. thank you, michael. "cnn newsroom" will continue with anderson cooper after a quick break. thank you for joining us. to eate a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant ho ho ho oh, let me guess --ou see this?

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